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Apartment Fire
You arrive ( as the; Battalion Chief, Second Due Engine Co. Officer, Safety Officer or First Due Truck Co. Officer) You've got a working fire in the number two floor of a multiple occupancy apartment building. The Building is wood frame (Type V) dimensioned lumber, solid wood floor joists, truss roof with plywood deck, subfloor and sheathing; built in the mid 1970's. The first-due engine company has established a water supply, pulled a line and are getting ready for entry...
Look over both photos. Pick an officer role....
What is the Building Profile telling you?
Where's the fire going to want to go?
What are your immediate resource needs (apparatus and manpower)?
What is the projected severity level of the fire?
What are the Safety Considerations
What are your going to do (IAP), IF you were the: (pick one, OR ALL)
Battalion Chief,
Second Engine Co. Officer,
Safety Officer or
First Due Truck Co. Officer
Now get to work...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jay Lowry on
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What is the Building Profile telling you?
There's a common cockloft even with the offset building design with one recessed. The siding will offer its own problems from the nearby structures.
Where's the fire going to want to go?
It will want to run the roof.
What are your immediate resource needs (apparatus and manpower)?
A second alarm to help with stretching additional lines as well as extra ladders to begin to pull ceilings and vent the building(s). RIC will have to be set up.
What is the projected severity level of the fire?
This will likely use 3 or 4 alarms.
What are the Safety Considerations
Interior attack along with ventilation will put firefighters at risk. It's likely to be a long fight. Rotating crews will be essential. Any roof work may have to be abandoned so multiple ladders must be thrown to make sure people have numerous ways out of tyhe building or off the roof.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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I don't have time for an in-depth reply right now, but this one looks as if it should be a Transitional attack. If I'm the 1st due Battalion Chief, I'll have the 1st engine hit the fire from the exterior. There's no one alive in that occupancy with the siding peeling off and that much fire, so search and rescue will be for the exposure apartments.
Hit the fire from the exterior, slow it down, and buy yourself more time to handle the problems Jay discussed.
If the structure holds up, we can consider the interior and roof work in a few minutes when we get more companies on scehe.
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Permalink Reply by united 289..{Dave} on
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First and fore most entry at this point is out of the question. You said you have a water supply. Hit this with a 2 1/2 to take the heat out and a quick knock down. Yes this will be a 2 or even a 3 alarm. This alone will exhaust our county resources.
Once you get a knock down and have things in more control then you can start interior work. You will need to vent the roofs on the rest of the building. This fire will run the roof. Whats the chances that there was firewall built in this structure? It almost apperas that there could be the way this is built. Like to see the photos after the fire is out to see how much damage there really was.
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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on
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1st Due Truck OIC: Report on scene and request orders form the BC also contact the Engine and advise them of my intentions. I trust that the BC did a 360, if not then I will 360 the building, position the rig at the "A" side, scan for overhead obstructions, the stick goes to the roof. My crew splits up and accomplishes these tasks( ground ladders to 2nd floor, prepare to vent roof with orders from BC, make entry and begin opening up for the Engine, establish 2nd egress for attack, search for life, secure utilities). These tasks have already been pre-assigned and these guys are the best at what they do, so no worries. LOL (yeah, in a perfect world)
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Turner on
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Apartment construction was Heavy Timber in the 70's? Never heard of such a thing. Am I missing something here?
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Permalink Reply by Harley on
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Strategy: Sizeup for all incoming units. Position charged line between burned & unburned
Tactics: Because of the distance between road and Apt, extend attack line before entering. Enter in Apt A, head up to the second floor. Assuming this unit has a common attic, open up the ceiling and deploy your steam back into Apt B.
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Yep. Thought type four was heavy timber. Was under the impression that type five was wood frame.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher J. Naum, SFPE on
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Editorial error. Type V, woodframe
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Thats a gold star for the day, I missed it :)
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Thanks, I was beginning to think I was missing a chromosome.
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Sorry everyone, It should and is Type V Construction; conventional dimensioned lumber, solid wood floor joists and a conventional 2X4 gable truss rooking system with plywood deck and subfloor and sheathing.
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